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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. ground — the earth
  3. content — happy
  4. cold — an illness
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — goods
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. chest — of your body
  9. mark — a trace
  10. chest — a box
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bound — certain
  13. bound — obliged
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. stock — shares
  19. mark — a grade
  20. content — the amount
  21. bound — tied together
  22. ground — crushed
  23. ground — a position
  24. bark — to shout

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com